By Tom Breihan on May 13, 2011 at 1:40 p.m. EDT

California art-pop crew Fol Chen have recorded a cover of "I Walked" by their Asthmatic KittylabelmateSufjan Stevens. In Fol Chen's hands, the Age of Adz standout becomes a twitchy but smooth makeout ballad; singer-songwriter Simone White helps out. Download Fol Chen's take on the track above.

By Tom Breihan on April 29, 2011 at 12:15 p.m. EDT

Sufjan Stevens has contributed music to MAKE, a documentary about four self-taught outsider artists from directors Scott Ogden and Malcolm Hearn. Stevens' 2010 album The Age of Adz was inspired by the documentary. The cover of the album is a painting by Prophet Royal Robertson, one of the artists featured in the film, and Stevens also partially built the album around Robertson's life story. On June 21, Stevens' label Asthmatic Kitty will release MAKE on DVD.

Artists that pitched in for the tribute include DM Stith, Half-Handed Cloud, the Gregory Brothers (aka the "Bed Intruder Song" people), and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, whose cover of Seven Swans opener "All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands" is streaming over at TwentyFourBit. Head here to check it out.

By Tom Breihan on February 23, 2011 at 10:55 a.m. EST

Sufjan Stevens isn't ready to put away the neon facepaint just yet. As the Asthmatic Kitty website announces, Stevens is now gearing up to take his wildly theatrical Age of Adz tour to Europe. The European trek kicks off late in April and lasts about a month. It'll be Sufjan's first time touring Europe since 2006, and his Asthmatic Kitty labelmateDMStith will open. Below, we've got all of Sufjan's dates and his video for "Too Much".

By Tom Breihan on February 16, 2011 at 4:50 p.m. EST

Photo by Marzuki Stevens

As TwentyFourBit points out (via La Blogotheque), last year, Sufjan Stevens collaborated with the French musician Gaspar Claus on three long improvised works. The tracks have awesome titles: "Romance Cave", "Alien Vs. Predator", and "Invalid Skin". They're wordless, impressionistic pieces, heavy on strings and electronics, and they're collectively about a half-hour long.

By Tom Breihan on January 6, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. EST

Last year, we reported that Sufjan Stevens had scored Beyond This Place, a documentary by his filmmaker friend Kaleo La Belle. The film chronicles La Belle's reunion with his long-estranged father. As it turns out, reunions with long-estranged fathers are something of a theme for La Belle. La Belle's 2006 documentary Crooked River follows Sufjan and his brother Marzuki as they go to Michigan to see their own father for the first time in years. As Consequence of Sound points out, the film still hasn't been released, and there are no plans for release. The filmmakers haven't yet responded to an inquiry from us. UPDATE: The filmmakers are currently remastering the film and seeking distributors, and they hope to release it by spring.

The 52-minute film does have a Facebook page and a new trailer, which you can watch below. Sufjan, we learn, is a motherfucking beast at Pac-Man.

By Tom Breihan on November 30, 2010 at 2:20 p.m. EST

Last night, the National played London's O2 Brixton Academy. As Drowned in Sound points out, during "Terrible Love", their friend, collaborator, and fellow handsome Brooklyn indie deity Sufjan Stevens helped out, as he has at a few otherrecent National performances. Even as he rocked a fly pink-on-black zip-up, Sufjan avoided the spotlight, staying off to the side of the stage, playing tambourine and singing backup.